Flood — Butte, California

2025-12-21 to 2025-12-22 · near Centerville, Butte, California

Event narrative

California Highway Patrol reported a mud/dirt/rock slide from heavy rain at Centerville Road and Honey Run Road.

Wider weather episode

A series of atmospheric rivers brought moderate to heavy precipitation to interior northern California in the third week of December through the Christmas holiday. A Convergence Zone set up over Redding/Shasta County around 1 PM on Sunday, December 21. Heavy rain fell until around 7 PM, where there was a lull before another line redeveloped and brought additional moderate to heavy rain into the late evening. Over 24 hours, the area received 2 to 7 inches of rain. There were numerous reports of flash flooding, water damage, vehicles getting stuck in the rising waters, and one fatality. There was another Swiftwater rescue that occurred at 1:15 PM at Cisco Grove near Donner Summit as water levels rose from heavy rainfall on the South Yuba River. 4-6 inches of rain were observed over the previous 24 hours in this area. Numerous down trees and power lines were also reported from gusty southerly winds of 35 to 55 mph across the northern/central Sacramento valley and Sierra foothills. Several mud and rock slides were also reported in the foothills. Snow levels were high with this round, through December 23rd.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.7291, -121.7039)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1307870. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.